Journal of Disability Policy Studies, Ahead of Print.
Our study is the first to provide statistics on opioid use among Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) applicants. We use an innovative machine-learning method to identify opioids in open-ended text fields in SSDI administrative data. We find that more than 30% of applicants between 2007 and 2017 reported using one or more opioids, a rate that is about 50% higher than in the general population. Rates of reported opioid use varied over time, peaking at 32% in 2012. Reported opioid use also varied by age, gender, education, receipt of SSI, and across states. There was a positive and statistically significant association between (a) reported opioid use and SSDI awards and (b) reported opioid use SSDI award and death; these are associations and do not demonstrate a causal relationship.
Opioid Use Among Social Security Disability Insurance Applicants
The Burden of Getting Medical Care Can Exhaust Older Patients
Montori and several colleagues found that 40% of patients with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and neurological disorders “considered their treatment burden unsustainable.” When this happens, people stop following medical advice and report having a poorer quality of life, the researchers found. Especially vulnerable are older adults with multiple medical conditions and low levels of education who are economically insecure and socially isolated.
“I need to be the person who will know to do the right thing”: Perspectives of Arab and Jewish teachers confronting child sexual abuse.
Psychology of Violence, Vol 14(1), Jan 2024, 14-23; doi:10.1037/vio0000489
Objective: Teachers hold significant potential to influence children’s coping with child sexual abuse (CSA). Their beliefs and behaviors in this role are largely constructed by their sociocultural contexts, including their status as members of majority or minority groups. The purpose of the present study was to analyze, compare, and describe the experiences and perceptions of Jewish and Arab teachers in Israel coping with CSA in their everyday work. Method: Forty elementary school teachers (20 Arab [12 Muslim and eight Christian] and 20 secular Jewish) were recruited as part of a purposeful sample. Semistructured interviews and qualitative thematic analysis were conducted using a descriptive phenomenological-psychological approach. Results: While there is universality when contending with the CSA of pupils, Arab and Jewish teachers fundamentally differed in their perceptions of their role, responsibility, agency, and efficacy. Two interrelated themes emerged: (a) Perceptions of efficacy and agency when contending with CSA and (b) Perceived roles in cases of CSA (“soloists” vs. “team players”). Conclusions: The discussion highlights the Arab and Jewish teachers’ multifaceted, relational constructions of identity within their sociocultural, personal–professional, and sociopolitical contexts, which shaped their divergent understandings of and responses to cases of CSA while maintaining similar values and goals. The findings indicate the need to advance theory and promote interventions that take into account not only sociocultural contexts but also the intersectionality of power and the implications of majority and minority status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
‘So being here is. . . I feel like I’m being a social worker again, at the hospice’: Using interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore social workers’ experiences of hospice work
Palliative Medicine, Ahead of Print.
Background:Social workers have a significant role in hospices working with clients who are facing death but there is limited detailed understanding of the emotional impact of this work on social workers. Research has highlighted that those involved in hospice work find the work both a struggle (e.g. because of heightened emotions) and rewarding (noting that end-of-life care can feel like a privilege).Aim:To explore UK hospice social workers’ emotional experiences of work and how this influences their practice.Design:Semi-structured interviews were conducted with hospice social workers. Interviews were transcribed and transcripts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.Setting/participants:Eight social workers from different hospices in the UK.Results:Five overlapping superordinate themes emerged: making a difference to clients and families (‘the difference made’), the emotional impact of working in hospices (‘dealing with people’s emotions, and death, and dying, it’s serious stuff’), the relational context of this type of work (‘awareness of affinity to connect’), the ways in which coping is facilitated in hospices (‘seen it coming’) and a foundation theme, connection and disconnection to values (‘(dis)connection to values’).Conclusions:The results offer an exploration of social workers’ experiences of their work in hospices; how adept they were at coping and how they prepared for and made sense of the often emotionally-laden experiences encountered. Their experience of the rewards and meaning derived from their work offers important findings for clinical practice. Further research is suggested to explore a multitude of healthcare professionals’ perspectives across country settings using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
A Description of Missing Data in Single-Case Experimental Designs Studies and an Evaluation of Single Imputation Methods
Behavior Modification, Ahead of Print.
Missing data is inevitable in single-case experimental designs (SCEDs) studies due to repeated measures over a period of time. Despite this fact, SCEDs implementers such as researchers, teachers, clinicians, and school psychologists usually ignore missing data in their studies. Performing analyses without considering missing data in an intervention study using SCEDs or a meta-analysis study including SCEDs studies in a topic can lead to biased results and affect the validity of individual or overall results. In addition, missingness can undermine the generalizability of SCEDs studies. Considering these drawbacks, this study aims to give descriptive and advisory information to SCEDs practitioners and researchers about missing data in single-case data. To accomplish this task, the study presents information about missing data mechanisms, item level and unit level missing data, planned missing data designs, drawbacks of ignoring missing data in SCEDs, and missing data handling methods. Since single imputation methods among missing data handling methods do not require complicated statistical knowledge, are easy to use, and hence are more likely to be used by practitioners and researchers, the present study evaluates single imputation methods in terms of intervention effect sizes and missing data rates by using a real and hypothetical data sample. This study encourages SCEDs implementers, and also meta-analysts to use some of the single imputation methods to increase the generalizability and validity of the study results in case they encounter missing data in their studies.
‘People don’t realise how much their past experiences affect them in adulthood’: A qualitative study of adult siblings’ experiences of growing-up with a sister/brother with a childhood life-limiting condition and their perceived support needs
Palliative Medicine, Ahead of Print.
Background:There is a lack of research about the experiences and impact of having a sibling with a life-limiting condition. Studies focus on the sibling experience during childhood but the experience and impact during adulthood is unknown despite the increased life-expectancy of children with life-limiting conditions.Aim:To explore adult siblings’ perspectives on the experience of having a sister/brother with a childhood life-limiting condition and to identify their perceived needs and preferences for support.Design:A qualitative exploratory study design with data generated by semi-structured interviews and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, underpinned by interpretivism.Setting/participants:Twenty-two siblings (17–42 years old) were recruited via a children’s hospice in England.Results:The experience of having a sibling with a life-limiting condition changes over time in response to how understandings of the meaning of a life-limiting condition develop and changing roles/relationships with parents and siblings. These experiences have an enduring impact on adult sibling’s mental health which is compounded by their unmet (and sometimes unrecognised) support needs in adolescence and adulthood. Siblings described the importance of support continuing into adulthood with a focus on the provision of psychotherapy and peer support.Conclusions:Having a sister/brother with a childhood life-limiting condition appeared to have a significant and ongoing impact on adult siblings but their support needs, particularly for psychotherapy and peer support, are overlooked. The findings highlight the importance of ensuring siblings are included in family assessments and that family-based interventions are developed to promote sibling-parent relationships.